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What was it about the role and the show that spoke to you? And the creative team has been so wonderful to encourage us to find our own imprint, our own voice. I’ve always said that if I had been aware of it earlier, or had they been aware of me, or there had been an opportunity at an earlier stage - it just feels like it fits like a glove. Maybe this was far from your mind as you were watching it, but I know a lot of actors who see something and they know right away they want to play it. It was about a month before the world shut down. I loved the music immediately, I responded to it right away. And I thought André De Shields was magnificent. When did you first see “Hadestown”? Was it on Broadway? It’s just like nothing I’ve ever experienced, real joy, like we all just realize how grateful we are for the arts. We’re about six months into the tour now, but every city we go to, you feel such a palpable, shared celebration. It’s such a ride, not only for those of us on stage, obviously, but for every human being in the audience. It is, other than a couple of one-offs of my own performances.

Is this your first time back in a show since the COVID pandemic shut everything down? As played by Kreis, Hermes is both storyteller and host of the proceedings, recognizing that even if it is a sad tale, he wants everyone to have a good time. Hermes serves as the narrator of the proceedings, and Broadway veteran André De Shields won his first Tony Award for playing the role. The Tony-winning musical boasts music, lyrics and book by Anaïs Mitchell, and combines characters from Greek mythology - most notably Orpheus, Eurydice, Hades and Persephone - with an updated flair that incorporates musical styles from jazz to folk. Now, Kreis finds himself testing his stamina with another energetic, full-throttle role as Hermes in the national tour of “ Hadestown,” now in Los Angeles at the Ahmanson Theatre through May 29. He won the 2010 Tony Award for his Broadway debut as Jerry Lee Lewis in “Million Dollar Quartet” - a performance that had him not only playing, but seemingly channeling, the legendary singer. After the tour he began to study at Warner Loughlin Studios and pursue acting while also balancing a fruitful career as a singer-songwriter. That all changed when he was crashing on a friend’s couch in Los Angeles and came across an open call for the national tour of “Rent.” With no headshot or resume, he joined the long line at the cattle call, sang “I Can’t Make You Love Me” for his audition and promptly landed the lead role of Roger in the iconic musical.Īdmitting it was “insane,” Kreis didn’t take it for granted. “It never crossed my mind,” Kreis, who was born and raised in Oliver Springs, Tenn. But he never considered a career as an actor.

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Levi Kreis was a born performer, a singer-songwriter touring for audiences from the age of 12 and landing a full scholarship to study piano at Vanderbilt University when he was only a sophomore in high school.

Hermes hades